Dear Sh Sharif: Please don’t let the bastards grind you down!
I wrote the following entry few weeks ago, before the latest pseudo-Islamists push to occupy the entire country and and especially Mogadishu. It is disheartening to note that despite the repeated threats and preparations to dislodge the current infant government, the Sharif government continues to appease and even watche the blatant aggression of the Al Shabab terrorist groups and their partners in anarchy.
My feelings go out to the millions who have been misplaced and the hundreds that have lost their lives. One can only hope that this imbecile government led by Sharif will protect the people that it was expected to defend.
Dear Sh Sharif: Please don’t let the bastards grind you down!
The recent election of the moderate Islamist Sh Sharif Sh Ahmed as the president of Somalia has raised hopes of ending the seemingly eternal conflict in the country and bringing a sad and costly chapter in our history to a close. These renewed hopes of peace and the restoration of the Somali State were bolstered by the departure of the invading Ethiopian military and the resignation of Abdullahi Yusuf, a man many accused of being an obstacle to peace and a quisling who came to power on the back of enemy tanks.
From the very onset, the current government headed by Sh Sharif Sh Ahmed has called for unity and reconciliation and stated its desire to hold negotiations with its antagonists without any conditions. Yet, despite the perpetual calls to come to the negotiating table, the armed opposition has continued to wage bloody and deadly attacks on both the government and the small contingent of African Union Peace-keepers that supplements the inadequate Somali security forces.
Through a sustained campaign of firing mortars and bombs into residential areas complemented by targeted assassinations of intellectuals and pro-government individuals in Mogadishu, the armed opposition has created an artificial quagmire as a result of this administration’s inability to confront and defeat the agenda of the anti-peace forces. Instead, as these anti-peace forces continue to wreck havoc in Mogadishu, destabilizing an already tense population, the Sharif government persists to rely on an expedient strategy of “do nothing,” which is not only fatally flawed but suicidal.
Thus, it is hard to escape the obvious conclusion that the hope and optimism that accompanied this government following its inception are gradually vanishing and as Somalia enters a stagnant phase evinced by an ever belligerent armed opposition on one side and an inept leadership that is incapable of protecting and defending the people it was elected to serve on the other. Hence, between the routine mortar fires and the continued assassinations of leading public figures in Mogadishu, followed by an almost swift verbal condemnations and/or empty threats by the current government, some-one in this administration has to draw a line in the sand, and hold the peace-spoilers accountable for their destructive actions.
The armed opposition, are not united by a common ideology, and as the recent disagreements and skirmishes in Kismayo, Bay and Bakool region, and the division of Hizb-ul-Islam in Mogadishu, have shown, this convenient union is nothing but unholy alliance based on a perverted interpretations of Islam and pure greed. These nihilistic rebels are by their very nature unable to contribute or engage in the Somali discourse since they lack a reasonable rationalistic argument to validate their pigeon-holed interpretations of Islam. Consequently, the endless calls for the withdrawal of the African Union troops in Mogadishu, is nothing but an opportune distraction that draws attention away from the main issue: the eventual transformation of Somalia into anarchic playground filled with international jihadists with visions of ruling Japan and Alaska.
It should be clear by now that the financing and ideological guidance of these peace-spoilers comes from foreign sources who have no intention of giving the Somali people a break from their almost two decades of war and turmoil. It should also be clear by now, that the conflict in Somalia has become a foreign man’s war but a Somali man’s fight. Therefore, the recent statements by Abu Mansur to the Al Jazeera network that Arab Islamists will be welcomed with open arms in Somalia and provided with concubines and farm-lands, shows in its very essence not only the intellectual disability of these troglodytic gangs but also, their perverted visions of the world to come.
The people of Mogadishu have undergone years of brutal wars and human suffering and are understandably too exhausted to engage in further conflicts. However, it is necessary that they must chart out their own destiny and confront those who are hell-bent on destabilizing and causing more bloodshed in their city. The clan elders and the Islamic Scholars have so far done an admirable job in preaching about peace and bringing the two sides to the negotiating table. Nonetheless, they must understand that the armed opposition is not interested in working towards peace. The latest announcement by the Al Shabab militants that they will continue their destabilizations plans even after the withdrawal of the AMISOM troops in the country should go a long way in clearing doubts about the true intentions of these anarchists. The people of Mogadishu should wake up from their deep slumber and confront these social agitators once and for-all.
The endless one-hand clapping by the Sharif government is also dangerous and counterproductive, since it allows the armed opposition to buy time and flex its military muscles by encroaching into areas not governed by the current administration. Defeating the anti-peace coalition requires a sound strategy and a concrete steps in correcting the insecurity in Mogadishu. This war will not be easy nor will it end the over-all problems in Somalia, yet, it is important and an essential step in reversing years of turmoil and chaos in Somalia. Failure to confront these anti-peace forces will only embolden the armed opposition, and makes the job of this government much harder. More importantly, it lends a credible weight to the arguments that the current president Sh Sharif Sh Ahmed, albeit well-intentioned and sincere in his actions, is the wrong man at the right time.
